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Appeared on: Thursday, May 07, 2009
WiGig Alliance Could Eventually Push Wireless Streaming of HD content

The WiGig Alliance was formed up to promote a Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) standard that could enable wireless streaming of high-definition video to home television sets.

The WiGig Alliance includes Intel, Microsoft, Broadcom, LG, Nokia, Panasonic and Samsung and plans to introduce a specification for short-range, gigabit-speed wireless networking by the end of this year. The specifications takes advantage of the unlicensed 60GHz radio spectrum within a typical room. The high frequency of the new standard could allow for easier transfer of HD digital content. WiGig should be capable of delivering more than 6Gb per second (Gbps) at the physical layer, though certain kinds of overhead will reduce that speed in real-world use. However, since it uses such high frequencies, the technology will tend to have a shorter range than Wi-Fi, unless more advanced antennas are used.

The WiGig standard is expected to be finished by the end of this year, then testing to begin to make sure the wireless technology works properly in televisions, computers, mobile telephones, video cameras and other devices. The first WiGig -certified products are expected to appear by the end of 2010.

Many wireless technologies have been proposed in the last three years, including UWB (Ultrawideband), WirelessHD, and WHDI (Wireless Home Digital Interface). However, none of them has been widely established on the market. WirelessHD delivers about 4Gbps for consumer applications, and WHDI promises about 3Gbps.

The technology might eventually become part of a "tri-band Wi-Fi" that could provide connectivity over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 60GHz bands, at different speeds, depending on the strength of the signal in different locations around an access point.